r/mantis

Hi everyone, good evening. I chose the orchid mantis as my first mantis; I've had her for about 4 or 5 days. She’s quite active—though she hasn't moved much in the last two days—and has a healthy appetite; I feed her about four fruit flies, checking her abdomen to see if she's hungry. She’s housed in a 20x20x30 Exo Terra enclosure set up with a clay and coconut fiber substrate. Since she’s still in an early stage of development, I hand-feed her using tweezers. Humidity is at 60–70% and the temperature is around 24°C. I need some advice because the plants have started to wilt, even though I mist the enclosure once a day with two sprays. I suspect the heat mat placed underneath is heating the soil too quickly, affecting the plants. I also have a small LED lamp positioned above that stays on all day, and I think it might be too much light for the plants. I’d appreciate any advice.

As you can see from the photos, the plants have started to wilt; there is visible condensation along the edges of the soil, yet the center is dry. I only noticed this today because, seeing the condensation, I assumed the moisture level was uniform throughout the soil, failing to account for the heat radiating from the mat positioned underneath the center.

As you can see, my little one is in the early stages of growth, and—as I’ve already mentioned—I am aware that she is currently too small for this space; however, I hand-feed her, and she seems to like this habitat.

PS. I took the photo right after misting the enclosure.

Thank you for reading and for your time I really appreciate the advice.

It's my first time holding a Mantis. I already adopted her as an adult and she was very chill towards me. Well I prepared her home and bought some insects to feed her. I feed her like every 2-3 days and it seems to be enough. Anyway when I opened her box today she instantly climbed on my hand and started to eat pieces of skin from my finger. No big deal since it was dead skin anyway but at some point she started really chewing on my thumb like in the video and I think she was after my blood. She was carefull enough to not hurt me but I got worried and sat her down. I sat some of her food insects in her box and hope she actually catches it since she seems to be hungry. She already had some of my blood now and I'm a little worried she might get sick or something. Is it normal for a Mantis to do that? Do they need more food in the cold season? Is it dangerous or did she actually get a good meal like that? Thanks for y'alls help 😊

had this lil guy hanging around our back porch for the past 2 weeks. found him on his side yesterday. not an expert so can’t tell if it’s actually him or just the molt. persevered in some alcohol.

im worried about the mesh, how well does an enclosure like this hold humidity? ive also heard that metal can be bad for them, is there a way to replace that with something softer or do i need a new lid? im very new to mantis keeping so any general care tips are definitely appreciated.

There were a lot of this little things

Greetings from Long Beach California

I have the following available at https://mantismart.com

Giant Asian mantis (Hierodula membranacea)

Ghost mantis (Phyllocrania paradoxa)

Timor Giant Mantis (Hierodula timorensis)

Orchid Mantis (Hymenopus coronatus)

Jeweled Flower Mantis (Creobroter gemmatus)

Lacewing Mantis (Eomantis yunnanesis)

Gambian Spotted Eye Flower Mantis (Pseudoharpax virescens)

Dead Leaf Mantis (Deroplayts gorochovi)

My first mantis. It was sold as a ghost mantis but both me and the shop were not sure if this is actually a ghost mantis.

My giant shield molted over night, and this is about two days after it happened? I’ve left it completely alone, haven’t even opened its enclosure, but the abdomen looks weirdly colored to me and it’s moving a lot more than normal, or so I think.

Is it ok?

They are fed every other day, enclosures are misted regularly, humidity is within range, and yet they wont stop running around! Is this normal? Im not sure what else to do!